Apple and its CEO Steve Jobs can gloat -- they've once again foiled iPhone unlockers via a firmware update, this time to the bootrom shipping on new units. (Source: Telegraph UK)

A screenshot of the new bootrom was posted by unlocker Mathieulh. The new bootrom began shipping this week. (Source: iClarified)

Apple's strikes again, sending jailbreakers on their heels

Apple plays what its CEO Steve Jobs
once
likened to a game of "cat and mouse" with iPhone
unlockers and jailbreakers. Jailbreakers, like the iPhone Dev Team, try to release the iPhone from being limited to the official iTunes app store and other firmware restrictions, while unlockers, such as George Hotz, use the jailbreaks and other techniques to unlock the phone, allowing it to run on any hardware-supported network.

Usually the unlockers/jailbreakers seize the day, but
occasionally Apple will win a round. Apple has tried many
approaches -- everything from "bricking"
unlocked iPhones to denying jailbroken iPhones access to the iTunes
store -- to halt the spread of unlocking in the U.S. and force people
to use AT&T, despite the hardware being capable of working on
other carriers such as T-Mobile.

Now, Apple has managed to
gain an upper hand over the persistent hackers according to iClarified, thanks to the release
of a new
bootrom, iBoot-359.3.2. The phone firmware, which shipped
on new iPhone 3GSs starting this week, closes previously used doors
to exploits.

A user named "Mathieulh" first noticed
the new bootrom and took a screenshot. It was subsequently
confirmed by Muscle Nerd of the iPhone Dev Team that the loss of the 24kpwn exploit would render the
iPhone unjailbreakable for the time being. This means that the unlocking fixes, such as the utility released by George Hotz, also won't work anymore as they rely on jailbreaking as a preliminary step.

For users wishing
to jailbreak, iPhone jailbreakers are hard at work trying to find
alternative exploits that could be used to unlock the phone.
They suggest, in the meantime, that users purchase older stock of
iPhones or buy refurbished units.

The iPhone 3GS was unlocked
as soon as it was released, thanks to unlockers with iPhone Developer
connections. George Hotz used the iPhone Dev Team's exploit,
along with his own methods, to publish a
route to jailbreaking the phone just weeks later.

Comments

Threshold

Username

Password

remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled